French 2nd Armored Division

The French 2nd Armored Division was a Free French and French Army armored division that existed from 24 August 1943 to 31 March 1946 and from 1977 to 1999. Led by Philippe Leclerc, the division originated with Free French forces in North Africa that had captured Kufra in early 1941; Leclerc swore to continue fighting until the flag of France was raised over the Cathedral of Strasbourg. The division did so, and its 14,454 troops (including 3,600 Moroccan and Algerian troops and up to 2,000 Spanish troops) liberated Paris in August 1944, defeated a panzer brigade in Lorraine, liberated Strasbourg, cleared the Colmar Pocket, turned west to liberate the port of Royan, and returned to Germany to capture the Eagle's Nest in Bavaria. The division would be disbanded in 1946 after the end of World War II, but it would be revived from 1977 to 1999 as a part of the regular French Army.